You'll Always Come Back
by DenniBenni
Summary: Tim goes missing while on a mission. Dick is fearful of losing another brother and the team is afraid of losing another team mate. A certain teenager becomes a suspect after returning around the time of Tim's disappearance.
1. Chapter 1

AN: Hi! So I actually just got this idea not to long ago for this story! So here is the first chapter, and I hope it interests you!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Young Justice, or its characters!

Summary: Tim goes missing while on a mission. Dick is fearful of losing another brother and the team is afraid of losing another team mate. A certain teenager becomes a suspect after returning around the time of Tim's disappearance.

CHAPTER 1

Darkness. That was all he was aware of at the moment. It was completely dark and he couldn't seem to force his eyes open. But, his mind was racing as if he were awake. He felt his eyebrows furrow as he tried to think. Tried to remember the last thing that had happened.

Bruce had taught him that. Always trace back to the last moments that were in your memory. And those moments were the team being split up into the groups of Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. He had been placed in a group with Nightwing and Wondergirl. It was kind of a promise Dick had made to Bruce before he went off world. To keep their youngest member in his reach at all times. It was annoying to some degree, but Tim understood. Bruce was worried because of what happened to Jason. And that was normal he supposed.

You never really get over things like that...

Tim remembered that they were following a lead on where La'gann was, ever since he got taken and Artemis "died". Tim had other theories on that subject, but he hadn't had time to prove his theory correct. And now was especially not the time to think about that.

Nightwing, Robin, and Wondergirl had been at dock thirteen, waiting for Black Manta's sub to arrive. That seemed to be the last thing he could remember. Oh, and a flash of light that had blinded all three of them.

His thoughts were cut off suddenly by someone speaking. A male. There must have been someone else in the room too because he asked, "has the boy regained conciousness?"

"No, he hasn't yet. But, do not worry Father, he shall see the Light. He will be your heir. But, do you not think Bruce will reconsider the offer?" A female asked.

"I do not. I have given the detective many chances to become the heir to my empire, but he has declined each offer. I suppose I shall settle for the next best thing, his surrogate son," the male spoke again.

"He has other sons. Jason and Richard," the woman muttered. Tim felt his heart beat speed up at the sound of Jason's name. How did they know he was back from the dead? Had they seen Jason lately? Tim briefly remembered when Jason had beaten the hell out of him six months ago.

The man replied, "yes, but Timothy is still at an impressionable age. He'll be easier to sway towards the Light. Besides, out of the three, I favor him."

"What makes him any different than the others?" The woman asked.

There was a light chuckle and Tim had to suppress a flinch when he felt a cold hand on his head. He could even feel the ice cold hand through his hair. It was almost...dead...

"Because, my daughter, do you remember what got Jason killed?" The man asked quietly.

There was a pause before she answered, "yes Father, the boy was rash and the Joker got the best of him."

"Yes, my child. He was much to rash and didn't _see _the things the detective saw. He didn't _think _before he acted. He just did what he wanted and ended up dead. Now, what about Richard? I suppose he would have made a good heir, but Richard does not want to be Batman. He doesn't have the inner drive to do what is necessary for a mission," the man stated, taking his hand off of Tim's head.

The female spoke, "what about Timothy makes him so...interesting, Father?"

There was a sigh as the male replied, "He's not like Jason, or even Richard. He _is _the detective, just younger. He _sees _the things that the other two don't. He figures out things. Actually, I believe he already knows who we are, even if he hasn't regained full conciousness."

And it was true. Tim did know who the two people were...

Talia and Ra's Al Ghul...

And with that last thought, slowly, his mind drifted back into his subconcious...

* * *

So I know it's kind of short, but hey, it's the first chapter. The next one will be longer, promise! Tell me what you think! I always love getting reviews they really do help me. And plus this is kind of the opening chapter, so I guess it's supposed to be short...anyway I'll stop rambling, please review! :) (Oh and if there are any grammar errors, please let me know!)


	2. Chapter 2

AN: So I updated this chapter quickly since the first one didn't really give you that much to go on. I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I own nothing of these characters or Young Justice! (Even though I wish I did.)

CHAPTER 2

Dick had to admit that he was having trouble controlling his emotions at the moment. Tim, his brother, just got taken right in front of him. He couldn't do anything about it. And he hated that helpless feeling. He couldn't save his brother and now he was missing, along with La'gann. They seemed to be losing everyone now.

There was a lot on his shoulders at the moment. Maybe Aqualad knew something. The next time he could get in contact with his undercover friend, he would ask him. But, Dick tried not to panic to much. It had been twenty-six hours, most of which he had been unconcious from that smoke bomb that had hit them.

He paced back and forth, the team staring at him. Everyone was trying their best to stay calm, but losing two people in this short amount of time was..._scary _to say the least. And Dick didn't really want to admit it, but truthfully he cared about Tim way to much to be worried about La'gann. At least he knew La'gann was safe, because Aqualad wouldn't let anything bad happen to him. But, he had no idea who took Tim. He had no way of knowing if Tim was dead or alive.

Dick stopped pacing and looked at the team, including Roy, who had come to help. He seemed much more stable after finding the original Roy. But, that Roy was still in the hospital and hadn't regained conciousness.

Dick cleared his throat and took a calming breath. He spoke, "I know we've lost two people in a short amount of time. Including the death of Artemis. And I realize that can be nerve-wracking. But, we all need to stay focused right now. Our main priority as of now is to find La'gann and Robin. I'm going to split us into two main groups. One will search for Robin and the other will search for La'gann."

The team nodded and Dick continued, "team Beta will be M'gann, Superboy, Beastboy, Jaime, and Wondergirl. Alpha will be me, Red Arrow, and Batgirl. Beta will be in charge of finding La'gann, Alpha will be in charge of looking for Robin. Got it?"

"Why only you three?" Wondergirl asked.

Nightwing replied quickly, "because we know Robin's identity. Something might come up that calls for his identity to be known, and we don't want anyone else knowing his name."

"Well, I know his name," Beastboy mumbled.

Nightwing shook his head and turned to back towards the computer, pulling up the screen. He pointed to the sight of Robin's kidnapping and said, "Alpha, we start here."

The other two nodded and headed out through the zeta tubes.

* * *

"Ugh, what the hell are you doing here?" The man asked entering the apartment.

Jade turned, looked at the man, and smirked, "ah, Jason, to whom do I owe this displeasure?"

Jason Todd rolled his eyes, throwing his bag on the couch and sitting down. "This _is_ my apartment."

"If I recall, Roy paid for half of it," Jade replied.

The teen shrugged, "and you paid for _none_ of it. What are you doing here?"

"Oh, you didn't hear? Roy and I got back together," she chuckled sitting on the counter.

Jason grabbed the remote and turned on the T.V. He sighed, "great. I was actually kind of glad when you left."

"What would you know? You disappeared six months ago," she retorted.

Jason groaned, "well, papa bear, Dickie-Bird, and I were having some problems. They were messing with my trade."

"And you beat the hell out of the Robin kid if I remember correctly. That tends to piss them off," Jade said.

"Oh yeah, and that. But, I just needed to lay low. Plus, I found out that the old man is off world, so I decided it would be as good time as any to come back."

Jade didn't answer and Jason looked around, "where's Roy anyway?"

"He should be back soon, he had some kind of emergency with the Young Justice," Jade answered jumping off of the counter top.

Suddenly the door opened, showing the figure of Roy Harper. Jason smirked, "speak of the devil."

"Jason?" Roy asked setting his bow and quiver down.

Jason nodded, "the one and only."

"I've met a few other Jasons," Jade mumbled.

"How many came back to life after being beaten to death?" Jason snapped

She didn't reply and he nodded, "didn't think so."

"What are you doing here? Not that I'm not glad to see you're still alive and everything, but what are you doing here?" Roy asked.

Jason rolled his eyes, "I'm sure you're just thrilled to see me. Anyway, I decided it was time to come back after my little vacation."

Suddenly they were cut off by the sound of an infant crying. Jason raised an eyebrow and looked at the white baby monitor that sat on the table. Without a word, Jade turned and walked out of the room and down the hall.

Jason looked confused until a smile spred across his face. He looked over at Roy and laughed, "you dog."

Roy glared, "we're technically married."

"Yeah, yeah, so what kind of "emergency" did you have? Did the team run out of diapers?" Jason laughed.

Roy shook his head and sat in a nearby chair. He mumbled, "maybe you picked the wrong time to come back, Jason."

Jason sat up on the couch and asked, "why? 'Cause you knocked Jade up?"

Roy's face turned red, and quickly he shook his head, "no Jason, but you're going to be a suspect to your older brother."

"He's not my damn brother, and why would I be a suspect?" Jason growled.

Roy breathed deeply, "Jason, Robin went missing a little over a day ago. He got kidnapped while on a mission. Plus...Artemis died only a few days ago and another team member named La'gann went missing the same day Artemis died. We know who killed Artemis and who took La'gann, but we don't know who took Tim...did you take him?"

Jason's eyes narrowed, "hell no, I didn't take the kid. I beat him up once, good enough for me. Is the old man still off world?"

"Yeah, and Dick is freaking out. We went to the dock where Tim went missing , but all we found was the smoke bomb shell. Dick is still really...spazzy after what happened to you, and this is scaring the hell out of him. So Jason...if you do have Tim-" Roy was cut off when Jason stood.

"Do you think I'd really kill the kid? I don't think any kid deserves what I got from the Joker. So no Roy, I don't have Tim. Dick and Bruce are idiots for endangering another kid in the first place," Jason snapped.

Roy stood also and held up his hands, "ok Jason. I get it, I'm going to help Jade with Lian. Just calm down."

Jason glared as Roy left the room. The teen unzipped his bag that sat on the couch and pulled out his Red Hood costume. He needed to have a talk with Dickie-Bird...

* * *

So, what do you think? Good, ok, or bad? Please review! I'll have the next chapter up soon!


	3. Chapter 3

AN: So, here is chapter three! I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Young Justice or any of these characters!

CHAPTER 3

Tim's eyes snapped open and his pupils were invaded by the fluorescent lightbulbs above his head. He squinted his eyes and ran a quick check through his head. Nothing on his body felt broken or injured, in fact the only thing bothering him was his head.

Quickly he sat up on his elbows and two figures came into view. He blinked hard, his eyes focusing on them. A man and a woman. He gulped. Talia and Ra's.

He didn't speak to them, and slowly he sat up on the the bed. They stared at him, blank expressions. Tim stared back. They weren't attacking, but they were guarding the door. And he didn't really think he could take the two of them on at the same time since they were both trained as ninjas.

The first to talk was Ra's. He asked in a voice that made the room feel ice cold, just by its sound. "How do you feel, Timothy?"

The teen knew that Ra's and Talia knew his identity, so it was no shock when his name was spoken. He nodded slowly, "fine."

"You inhaled a bit to much of the gas that was used to render you unconcious. You've been unconcious for nearly two days. Almost stopped breathing at one point," Ra's seemed to look curious about that. Like he didn't know how Tim had managed to inhale so much.

The demon shook his head, "no matter, you'll learn to fight off the effects soon enough."

Tim's eyes widened, "what do you mean, I'll learn?"

Ra's gave a grin that would probably make the sun turn to a block of ice. "Since your surrogate father refused my offer to become heir, I have decided to settle for the next best thing. _You_."

Suddenly all of the words he had heard when he was still half-concious made sense. Ra's wanted _him _as an heir. He wanted him to train. To become the ruler of his empire when he is deceased. Tim shook his head hard and growled, "I'll never train for you. I'd rather die."

Ra's smile grew as he nodded, "but, would you rather your friend...the fish boy, die in your place?"

Tim gulped and shook his head, "you don't have him, he was taken by someone else."

Ra's raised an eyebrow, "yes, but I happen to have close connections to that someone. And one word could have the fish boy killed in and instant. But, if you behave yourself and learn what you are meant to, his life will be spared."

Tim looked down, his eyes wide. He ran everything through his head trying to think of a way around this. He wanted so badly just to jump up and shove them away from the door, but that could get himself and La'gann killed. And he didn't want to risk La'gann's life just because he didn't want to learn from the demon.

Ra's broke his thoughts saying, "I am the only one keeping your friend alive at the moment. They have no use for him as of now, but I suggested keeping him alive. But, I can always revoke my decision."

Tim glared, hatred and anger filling his veins. He was trying to think like Bruce and he knew Bruce would keep La'gann safe if he was in this position. Tim sighed deeply and nodded finally. He looked at Ra's and spoke, "I will learn...not because I want to, but because you have La'gann."

Ra's smirked and looked at Talia. His eyes then moved back to the teen. He ordered, "I suggest you rest, your training starts tomorrow."

With that, the demon turned and left the room, Talia following. Tim didn't even move from the bed, knowing the door had been locked and there were no windows. Not to mention the ninjas that were probably guarding the door.

Angrily, he threw himself back onto the pillow. He covered his face with his hands and just prayed Dick and the team would find him soon...

YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ

"Well, if it isn't the Bat Couple of the year," Jason stated landing on the roof behind Batgirl and Nightwing. He wore his Red Hood helmet, leather jacket, and cargo pants. His usual gun holsters hanging at his sides.

Both Nightwing and Batgirl glared. Nightwing stepped towards him, until Batgirl grabbed his arm. Nightwing snapped, "I knew it, you showing up right around the time Robin gets kidnapped. Where is he Jason?"

Jason's eyes narrowed under the helmet and he hissed, "sorry Dickie-Bird, I don't have your precious baby brother."

Dick tried to take another step forward, until Barbara stepped between the two and spoke, "stop it, Nightwing. Think about it, it doesn't make much sense that he would take Robin."

Dick's eyes widened beneath the mask and he exclaimed, "are you blind! He beat the hell out of Robin just six months ago. He's jealous of Tim because he became Robin."

Jason poked Dick's chest and shouted, "I am not jelous of that little bastard! And I have nothing to do with the kid going missing. Maybe you should learn to take care of your crap better, Dickie-Bird. I swear you could be the old man's real kid! You're both screw ups at keeping any Robin safe!"

Dick swung at Jason, but Jason dodged it. He stepped forward to retaliate and Dick did the same until both of them suddenly found themselves on the ground. Batgirl standing above them. She was breathing heavily and snapped, "the both of you need to shut up! Nightwing, I don't think Jason took Robin, because Jason wouldn't know where we were that night. And whoever took Robin planned the kidnapping. If it had been Jason, it would have had to been a spur of the moment, because he would have had to run into us while we were on the mission!"

Then she turned to Jason and pointed a finger at him, "and you! You need to settle whatever issues you have with this "family", and get over it. Sure you got replaced, but it's no reason to beat the crap out of your little brother."

Jason pushed himself to his feet and growled, "he's not my brother. Neither of them are. I don't know why people keep saying that."

She stepped closer getting in his face, being braver than most would be. She hissed, "they are your brothers, whether you like it or not, they are."

Jason glanced at Dick who was standing back up. Jason shook his head and replied, "they most definately aren't."

He stepped back and said, "good luck finding, Baby-Bird. I'm out of here."

With that he turned and disappeared into the shadows. Dick sighed and sagged his shoulders, "that went great."

Batgirl nodded, "good old family reunion."

* * *

Ta-da! Chapter three is finished! Hope you liked it, please review! :)


	4. Chapter 4

AN: And here I present you with chapter four! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Young Justice, or any of its characters.

CHAPTER 4

Tim panted heavily as he held the staff tightly in his hand, while trying to keep his weight balanced. He didn't exactly know what the name of this exercise was, but it was getting annoying after about eight hours of it. His knees shook as he stood on the tight rope. Another ninja approaching him in a fighting stance.

Tim took a deep breath, his hair plastered to his forehead with sweat. He positioned himself in a fighting stance, different from the ninja's. When the person in black lunged, Tim swung the staff in one swift motion. Enough frustration and anger slammed into the ninja's ribcage to knock him off of the tight rope.

Ra's and Talia watched from the ground a few feet away. Ra's called, "send another up!"

"Father, don't you think he's had enough?" Talia asked.

Ra's looked at her, "he's getting better. He's been knocking them off faster than he could this morning."

"Yes...I suppose," Talia mumbled watching the boy knock another ninja off the tight rope.

Finally Tim snapped, "alright! That's enough; we've been at this for hours and nothing different has happened!"

Ra's smiled and raised his hand. Suddenly the tight rope was cut and Tim yelped in surprise as he fell. But, landed safely in a net that was below.

"Father!" Talia shouted from the surprise. It felt as if her heart had just lept from her chest.

"He is done for the day, let him shower and eat. Then send him to bed, he has more training tomorrow," Ra's ordered leaving the training room, his green robe trailing behind him.

Tim breathed heavily, trying to calm his racing heart. He heard the sound of Talia's boots as she approached the net that was still being held up by the ninjas. She ordered, "come Timothy, you are done for the day."

"What was the point in that? I can understand a few ninjas, but he sent out one hundred and fifty," Tim growled climbing from the net. His knees shook from the strain of the past few hours.

"You were improving your time. The last one you knocked off in under two minutes, the first one this morning took you ten minutes," Talia noted walking towards the exit, Tim following.

Tim rolled his eyes and followed, his body aching.

Where was his brother?

* * *

Dick slammed his fist into the keyboard a good ten times before he sat back into the chair. He was alone in the cave at the moment, still trying to find a lead in Tim's disappearance. He had spoken to Aqualad and the other had no intel on Tim at the moment, but he would speak to his father about it soon when the time was right.

Dick ran a hand through his sweaty hair. He was stressed out with everything, and to tell the truth, he was neglecting his other duties in his attempt to find Tim. Group Beta hadn't found any sign of La'gann and the same was for Alpha. No sign of Tim.

A voice came through the cave suddenly, "you know if you hit the computer to hard, it might catch fire?"

Dick's head snapped backwards and there stood Jason. He was leaning against the examining table, his arms folded over his chest. Dick's eyes narrowed, "what the hell are you doing here?"

Jason shrugged, "Roy told me you were still having some trouble finding Baby-Bird. And that you were going crazy."

The older shook his head, "I'm not going crazy."

Jason pointed at the keyboard, "I bet your computer would beg to differ. So, you got any leads?"

Dick sighed, "the Light...but that's pretty much it. We're still not entirely sure of all the members in the light, so it could be anyone of them."

Jason jumped on the table, at sat. He stared at Dick until shrugging, "so, are you just going to wait until someone kills him to do anything?"

"The hell are you talking about?" Dick hissed.

Jason glared, "I'm talking about, you're over thinking this. Go and interrogate the members of the light that you _know. _See if they have any information on the kid before he gets his ass killed."

Dick stood and snapped, "dammit Jason, I can't just storm in there and start questioning them! That could get Tim killed. I thought maybe you would have learned not to be so rash ever since _you _got _your _ass killed!"

Jason jumped from the table and got nose to nose with Dick. His eyes burned with pure anger and hate as he growled, "shut the hell up Dick. I was trying to help you find your precious baby brother, but you can forget it now. I'll be expecting to see the funeral on the news."

With that Jason turned and walked away, fuming. Once he was gone, Dick fell back into his chair and covered his face in his hands...

Things were getting way to hard...

* * *

Chapter four is done! It was a little short, so I'm sorry for that. I hope you don't hate me to much. :)


	5. Chapter 5

AN: I just wanted to point out that you'll probably recognize the training scene between Tim and Ra's. I used the training scene from "Batman Begins" so if it seems familiar, that's where I got it from. :)

CHAPTER 5

Tim shivered slightly as he stood in front of Ra's. He gripped the thin sword in his hand and asked, "what are we doing out here?"

Tim found it to be a good question. They stood on a frozen lake that was on the side of the mountain that Ra's palace was located near. Ra's and himself only had on thin coats, besides Talia who sat on the shore of the ice lake. Her's was a thick fur coat.

"You're the detective, you tell me," Ra's ordered.

Tim was silent a moment before replying, "I'm guessing terrain training? To see how well I would be able to fight under these conditions. To learn to mind my surroundings."

Ra's smiled, "precisely." Suddenly he slammed he own sword down towards Tim's neck. Tim quickly blocked it with his own sword, shoving the metal away. The sound echoed over the mountain.

They circled each other, Tim having trouble keeping his footing on the ice. It almost felt like he was a cat on a tile floor with his claws out. He swung the sword at Ra's, knowing it was going to be blocked. When Ra's swung back he used the armor on his forearm to block the attack. Using the spikes, he tried to wretch the sword from the man's grip, only for Ra's to use his own strength against him, and throw him onto the hard ice.

Tim only had a moment to stop his head from spinning when Ra's striked with his sword. Tim rolled to the right, feeling a slight nick on his shoulder blade, through his thin coat. But, it was so cold he could barely feel it.

The teen regained his footing and breathed heavily. Ra's asked, "do you still believe Richard is coming for you?"

Tim raised an eyebrow. Was Ra's trying to make conversation while they were trying to cut each other's heads off? But, Tim stayed silent and continued to circle the elder.

He blocked a blow from Ra's as the demon grunted, "he's not going to come for you, Timothy. He is not the detective your surrogate father is. Tell me, how long has he been off world?"

Tim didn't know why, but it made him slightly angry to hear Ra's say that about his brother. The man continued, "he's been gone a long time. I have a feeling your mentor isn't coming back. He has disgraced himself and so have his league members. The other planet will not forgive them for their actions."

Tim knew that Ra's was just trying to get under his skin, and it worked. He lunged at the older man, swinging the sword towards the armor on his shin. Tim watched in satisfaction as the man fell to the ground and Tim pointed the sword at him. The teen whispered, out of breath, "yield."

He was surprised to see Ra's smile, "you haven't beaten me, you've sacrificed your footing for a killing stroke."

And with that Tim found himself falling into the ice cold water of the lake.

He gasped, throwing his sword back on the ice. He knew Ra's wasn't going to help him, so he used what Bruce had taught him.

A sense of panic seemed to rise in him as he remembered the time he and Bruce were in Penguin's lair. He had been young then, a lot younger when he fell through the ice. He nearly succumbed to hypothermia when Bruce managed to get him out. After that his surrogate father taught him how to escape the ice.

Tim calmed his breathing and stopped thrashing. He quickly found the edge of the ice and pushed himself as far up as he could. He kicked his feet and pushed himself up. Soon he felt himself exit the water and roll away from the hole.

Once he was out he sat on his hands and knees breathing heavily. That is, until Ra's ordered, "get up."

Tim's eyes shifted to his sword that was next to him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Ra's position his feet in a striking motion. In one swift movement, Tim grabbed his sword and sat up on his knees, blocking Ra's strike to his back. He glared into the demon's cold eyes, still trying to calm his breaths. His hair was plastered to his forehead with water and sweat.

Ra's smirked, "very good."

* * *

Barbara sat next to Dick in the cave. She had just wittnessed one of the strongest people in her life, have a complete breakdown. And not the crying type, the type where things get destroyed and it ended with Dick breaking his hand.

She had finished wrapping it and leaned back, sighing. She pushed one of her red strands from her face and whispered, "I know your hurting, Dick. But, getting angry and breaking things isn't going to help Tim."

Dick was still breathing heavily. When he didn't answer Barbara sighed, "maybe we should contact Bruce."

Dick shook his head, "we can't, he'd be back here in a few hours and not go to trial. He needs to go on trial for things to get better."

"We need to find Tim for things to get better, too, Dick!" Barbara shouted standing. When Dick closed his eyes she sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Look Dick, he's practically a father to you and Tim and he'll be pissed if he finds out no one told him about this. Plus, we might need him if we're ever going to find Tim. If we wait until Bruce gets back...there may not be any Tim to find."

Suddenly Dick shouted, "you think I don't know that! I'm scared out of my mind that Tim is somewhere hurt and dying, wondering where the hell we are! I'm scared he's dead and I'm about to lose another brother! I'm trying Babs, I really am!"

The red head sighed and crouched down so that she was eye level since he was sitting. She placed a comforting hand on his knee and looked up into his blue eyes. She whispered, "I know you're scared. I'm scared too. But, we need Bruce's help."

It was silent, besides the sound of the bats in the backround. Dick whispered, "we can't, Barbara. We can't risk the trial."

Barbara was silent until she nodded, "I guess we'll have to do this ourselves then."

He nodded back, "I guess so..."

She sighed and leaned forward, kissing him on the cheek. Because, at the moment, it was the only thing she could give him.

* * *

And there you have it, chappie five! Please review! :)


	6. Chapter 6

AN: I'm going to warn you...if you love animals (particularly rabbits) this chapter might upset you a little. So you should probably skim over it if it's going to upset you. Just wanted to give you a heads up.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Young Justice, or its characters!

CHAPTER 6

Tim sat in the field of tall grass. Talia sat only a few feet away as she wrote in a small journal. Tim stared at her, trying to understand how she could just sit there and write most of the day while he was forced to train with her father. The wind moved her long hair around in the same direction that the grass moved. There was an old wooden table next to them both as they waited for Ra's.

"What is he going to make me do today?" Tim asked.

"Patience, it is not my place to tell," Talia replied.

Tim ran a hand through his hair that had grown a bit in the past three weeks. He asked, "is it horrible?"

She looked up and stared at the raven haired boy. He waited patiently for an answer that she was not going to give. She was glad to see when her father arrived, carrying a cage with five pure white rabbits in it. Their eyes were red and their fur was blowing in the wind.

Ra's' cloak fluttered about as he set the cage on the table. He motioned for Tim to step forward and the teen did so, standing and walking over to the demon. Tim asked, "what are they for?"

Tim opened the cage when Ra's gestured towards it. He reached in pulling out one of the rabbits and holding it close. He ran a hand through its fur and couldn't help but smile as it smelled his fingers. He's always liked rabbits. But, he was forced out of that happiness when Ra's reached into his belt, pulled out a knife, and slammed it into the table so that the handle was in the air.

Tim stared at it a long moment before shaking his head, "I'm not going to kill a rabbit. Sorry."

"You seem to have forgotten that your friend's life is on the line here, Timothy. Would you rather the rabbit live or your friend? You should know that a rabbit usually only lives eight to twelve years, where as your friend would probably live much longer."

Tim glared and asked, "how is this even training?"

"It trains you to be more comfortable with the thought of killing something. The detective trained you not to kill and that it was one of the worst things you can do. But, when the time calls for it, you must be able to kill," Ra's explained.

"I won't kill it," Tim snapped setting the rabbit on the table.

Ra's narrowed his eyes, "then I suppose I will inform my companions that the fish is no longer needed. Choose wisely Timothy, because once I turn around, I will _not_ reconsider."

Tim stared at the white rabbit and ran a hand over its fur. He closed his eyes and then nodded, "fine...I'll...I'll kill it."

Ra's smirked, "very good choice, Timothy."

Ra's pulled the knife from the table and handed it to Tim. The teen gripped it and reached down with his other hand to hold the rabbit still. He looked at Ra's and then back at the animal. The boy swallowed thickly before rearing his arm back and slamming it down onto the rabbit.

It squirmed under Tim's hand and the boy bit his lip at the strange sound the animal made. He had never heard an animal make that sound, and especially not by his hand. Once it ceased its movements, Tim put down the knife and looked at his hands that were covered in the animal's blood. He tried to remember that people killed animals everyday for food, but this was...just horrible. The teen's eyes looked at the body, the white fur was now stained with bright red crimson...

Tainted...

Ra's reached into the cage, pulling out another rabbit. He ordered quietly, "you _will _kill all of them."

Tim sucked in a breath of air and looked down at the pure white creature.

Tim must have done something horrible because...

He knew he had to be in hell.

* * *

Jason laid on the couch in the apartment. He was trying to get some sleep, but the door suddenly slammed open to show Roy. And boy did he look pissed about something. Jason opened one of his eyes and then closed it.

Jason mumbled, "you know, your kid poops a hell of a lot. And damn does it stink, you should get some kind of special diaper thing so it won't stink so bad in here."

Roy stomped in and walked up to Jason, flicking him between the eyes. Jason's eyes snapped open and he rubbed his face shouting, "what the hell!"

"What did you say to Dick?" Roy asked angrily.

Jason sighed, "oh please, don't act like any of that has anything to do with me. Just because the kid went missing, doesn't mean I have to suffer for it."

"Jason, Barbra told me Dick had some kind of mental breakdown. He even broke his own damn hand! What did you say?" Roy snapped.

Jason stood and growled, "why is it my fault he had a mental breakdown? All I said was that I'd be expecting to see the funeral on the news. He did look like he was having some trouble thinking straight considering he was abusing his keyboard when I got there."

Roy closed his eyes and sat down on the nearby chair. He ran a hand through his red hair and mumbled, "God, I can't believe this is happening."

"What, the kid getting kidnapped? He's been kidnapped before. I know, because one of those times I was dragging him to a warehouse to beat the crap out of him," Jason said sitting on the couch.

Roy nodded, "he has, but Dick has never freaked out like this before. He's usually so level headed. The last time I saw him this distraught it was after..."

He trailed off and looked at the floor. Jason eyes narrowed and he asked, "what? After I went boom?"

Roy nodded and whispered, "Jason...he really does care about you. He just...doesn't care for your killing and beating up your little brother-"

Jason snapped, "he's not my brother."

Roy held up his hands and mumbled, "alright, he doesn't like you beating up Tim. But, anyway, he's still a part of your "bat" family. We could use your help looking for Tim."

Jason scoffed and stood, grabbing his jacket. Roy sighed, "where are you going?"

"To the bar, your suggestion was so idiotic that I need a drink. Plus, your dear wife won't let me drink around the baby," he said putting on his coat and walking out, slamming the door behind himself.

* * *

So the rabbits were sort of there for sybolism. Since they were white rabbits they were meant to symbolize purity and innocence. And the blood was kind of what tainted them. So there you go if you didn't really get the whole point of me having him kill cute little bunnies...It was just an idea that popped in this psycho cranium of mine! Please review!


	7. Chapter 7

AN: I was a little slow at getting this posted because my internet has been down. But, it's back yaaay!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Young Justice or its characters!

CHAPTER 7

The woman in black gasped slightly as her back was slammed against the wall in the alley. The burning in her right shoulder would be unbearable if she hadn't had been trained for such pain. The man in front of her tsked and slammed another knife into her left shoulder, effectively pinning her to the wall, the pain to intense for her to try and escape.

"Look, I know you're working for Ra's, lady. All you've got to do is tell me why you're in Gotham," the man asked as he stepped out of the shadows, showing a bright red helmet.

She rasped, "I would die before I betray my Lord."

The Red Hood shrugged, "okey-dokey, I guess we'll have to do this the hard way."

He grabbed her wrist and pushed it against the wall, pulling a knife from his belt. He placed the blade over her pinky finger. He said, "I'm going to ask again, why are you in Gotham City?"

She filled her mouth the siliva and spit it on his helmet. He chuckled, using his gloved hand to get rid of it. Then suddenly he brought the knife down onto her pinky, severing it from her hand.

It fell to the ground and she let out of cry of pain. Chances are no amount of training really prepares you for getting limbs cut off. Jason sighed, "listen, you're clearly a new little recruit, so just give me the information I want and you can walk free."

She growled, "never."

Jason tilted his head and quickly sliced off her ring finger. Another cry of pain escaped her mouth and she breathed heavily. He placed the blade over her middle finger and growled, "we've still got three on this hands, and five on the other. Plus, hands, toes, feet, arms, and legs. Do you really want this to go that far?"

When she didn't reply he asked, "ok, how about I just skip to the whole arm?"

He placed his knife a little away from her shoulder, pressing hard enough to draw blood through her clothing. He began to move the blade and her breathing was speeding up the deeper the knife went into flesh. When the blade hit the first nerve she screamed, "stop! Stop!"

He pulled the knife away and whispered, "you gonna tell me why you're here?"

She took in a shaky breath and gasped, "I'm not entirely sure why he sent me. It was just a reconnaissance mission. He told me to get information about the bat clan. To see if they were mentioning him in anyway...I think he meant to see if he was a suspect in the disappearance of the Robin child. That is all I know...I swear!"

"Have you _seen_ Robin with your _own_ eyes?" Red Hood asked impatiently as he pressed the blade back onto her arm.

"Yes! Well, no...not with my eyes...but there has been talk among us of a new heir. A very gifted boy. I assume it is the boy you are referring to," she spoke shakily.

The Red Hood nodded and stepped away from her, putting his knife back into his belt. He spoke, "you've been very helpful. But, I'm afraid I'm going to have to tie up this loose end."

He pulled a gun from his holster and aimed it at her head. Her eyes grew wide and she stuttered, "b-but...I gave you the information."

He nodded, "and I'm thankful. But...like I said, I have to tie up this loose end. You."

He pulled the trigger and immediately she fell limp, the knives in her shoulders holding her up. He turned silently and thought to himself_, "I think Ra's could use a nice visit."_

* * *

Three figures landed on the rooftop with soft thuds. Nightwing and Red Arrow instantly began to scan the roof as Bargirl did the same. Dick asked, "Roy...are you sure that your source was right?"

"Well, it was actually Jade's source, but yeah, there was an unknown figure spotted tonight and another figure was chasing it. I thought maybe it could help us find Robin," Roy answered, not looking up from his search.

Barbara wasn't listening as she made her way across the rooftop. She stopped suddenly in her tracks when she felt something under her boot. Pulling her foot back, she saw a small metal star on the ground. She leaned down and picked it up, immediately knowing what it was. A shuriken.

"Hey guys!" She called behind herself. The two other males jogged over and Dick immediately grabbed the object studying it.

"Seems kind of out of place, don't you think?" Roy asked looking over Dick's shoulder.

"Just a little...none of us use these things," Dick mumbled.

"Well, duh," Roy whispered.

"Uh...guys, you might want to see this," Barbara mumbled. She was looking over the side of the building into the alleyway. She climbed down and the others followed after her. When they made it to the bottom, all three found themselves staring at the body of a ninja.

"What the hell..." Roy mumbled as he and Dick approached the body. He looked at Dick and asked, "got ninjas in the city, do you?"

"She hasn't been here long...clearly," Dick mumbled, pulling one of the knives from her shoulder. Her body wasn't even completely cold yet.

"So...who killed her?" Barbara asked. "A fellow ninja gone rogue?"

Dick shrugged and replied sarcastically, "oh I don't know...how many people do we know outside of our inner circle that can chase and kill a ninja?"

She glared, "don't be a smart ass."

"So...Jason?" Roy asked.

Dick nodded, "yep, Jason. But, I guess that's ok, I think we're a step closer to finding Tim now."

* * *

I'll be back in a few days with chapter eight! Please review!


	8. Chapter 8

AN: Chapter 8! Yay! Oh, I just wanted to say thank you for all of the reviews! They make me smile (especially the funny ones)! :)

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Young Justice nor its characters.

CHAPTER 8

The teen wasn't exactly sure how he had ended up with the sword in his hands, and why it was settled on the crying man's neck. His heart thumped vigorously in his chest and he begged for it to stop because it felt like it was about to beat right out of his rib cage if it didn't slow down or weaken its force.

His palms were sweating and his eyes were wide. This wasn't the rabbits, this wasn't an animal, this was human. He whispered, "Ra's...I can't kill a person."

"Timothy, the man killed his wife and infant daughter. Why is it so difficult for you to understand that this man deserves death?" Ra's snapped.

Tim's eyes shifted to the man in the green robe. Probably more than a hundred ninjas were surrounding them because Ra's was NOT going to let the boy escape this training exercise.

Talia held a laptop and had the screen facing Tim. It showed a video feed which was currently coming from a sub in the bottom of the ocean somewhere. One of Black Manta's minions had a knife pressed dangerously close to La'gann's throat. Tim was kind of grateful that the fish was unconscious.

Tim's eyes moved back to the man. He was sobbing and mumbling in a language Tim didn't understand. Ra's had been teaching him the native language of Bosnia, but it wasn't one of the languages that came naturally. Especially since he was so reluctant to learn anything from Ra's.

The beating in his chest quickened and a nauseous feeling rose in him. He felt completely sick. He spoke, "Ra's please...I'll do anything else. I'll train every hour of every day. Just...don't make me do _this._"

Ra's' eyes narrowed. He hissed, "Do you not understand, Timothy? This is about becoming my heir. You are at your physical peak, but your mental ability to kill someone needs exercising. Do it, or your friend dies. It's quite disappointing it is so difficult for you to choose between your teammate and a criminal."

Tim's grip tightened on the sword, the black gloves he wore had finger holes. He felt the leather grip beneath them and closed his eyes tightly, trying to fight the tears that were threatening to fall in front of all these people. He felt completely torn between Bruce's teachings and his friend's life. It was like he was a bug trying to get away from all of these shoes that were trying to step on him. Constricting him beneath the pressure. And there was no way out. Not an opening in sight.

He opened his eyes and took a shaky breath trying to figure this out. That's what he was good at, figuring things out. But, _this_...he couldn't figure this out. There was nothing to figure out. There were ninjas everywhere, if he ran they would grab him and force him to kill the man. He was good at fighting, but there were way too many for even him to defeat. Then, if he refused to kill the man, just dropped the weapon, La'gann's neck would be torn open and he would bleed and die. Which is like Tim murdering someone, just indirectly.

_Conflicted- CON·FLICT·ED adj \kən-ˈflik-təd\ -experiencing or marked by ambivalence or a conflict especially of emotions. First known usage: 1914. Synonyms: Ambivalent; Equivocal. Antonyms: Unambivalent. _

Out of pure habit his mental dictionary supplied him with a word. He was conflicted. Inner turmoil was brewing within him and he had no way around it. He nearly begged, "please...Ra's. Please don't make me do this."

"Choose now, Timothy, or your friend dies. You have ten seconds," Ra's ordered harshly.

Tim bit his tongue so hard he tasted copper from the blood that was filling his mouth. But, he couldn't feel any of the pain that should have shot through him. He just continued to bite down on it and stare at the crying man.

"Six seconds, Timothy," Ra's growled.

Tim closed his eyes. If he did this...he was never going to be able to go home. He couldn't face Bruce or Dick knowing he had broken the most important rule. But, he also knew they would kill La'gann and then someone else would execute this man anyway. That is two lives. Just one...well it seemed like the better choice. Tim felt like he was being split in two.

"Three seconds," Ra's' eyes were narrowed on the teen. Tim swallowed the saliva and blood that was filling his mouth and pulled the sword back slowly. His heart was still beating quickly in his chest.

He closed his eyes and whispered, "I'm so sorry, Bruce."

Then he swung...

He heard a loud thump and then the crying from the man was suddenly gone. The room was so silent that you could hear a pin drop. He slowly opened his eyes and on the ground lay the body of the criminal...his head had rolled a few feet away.

Tim's hands immediately let go of the sword and it clattered to the floor. He felt his chest tighten. His breathing was fast and he felt like everything, his morals, his teachings, his _sanity, _was escaping with each exhale.

Now like the rabbit...

He was tainted.

* * *

_The crowbar slammed into his face again for what felt like the hundredth time. His body ached and screamed as he could feel every bruise and cut on his body. He begged for it to stop, but not aloud. He would not give the psycho the satisfaction. So he took the beating._

_"Wow, that looked like it really hurt," The Joker chuckled hitting him across his left cheek, sending him onto the floor. He continued to breathe heavily, each breath sending pain through every muscle in his body. He didn't have to look to see the smile on the sadistic man's face._

_The crowbar came down three more times before he was on his face, closing his eyes tightly from the burst of pain. The broken ribs and internal bleeding sent shockwaves throughout him._

_"Whoa now hang on, that looked like it hurt a lot more," the evil man said as he hit the crowbar against his own hand making a light thumping sound. "So let's try and clear this up, ok pumkin? What hurts more, A?" He brought the crowbar down painful and continued his question, "or B?"_

_"Forehand?" He struck the tender skin again, "or backhand?"_

_'HAHAHAHA!" His mind splitting laughter broke out through the warehouse as Jason lay on his stomach. He wanted so badly to scream for Bruce to come and save him. He wanted to cry for the man, for anyone to rescue him from this. But...somewhere deep down...he knew he was going to die tonight._

_He turned his head and mumbled something inaudible. The Joker kneeled down and whispered, "eh, eh, eh, a little louder Lamb Chop. I think you may have a collapsed lung, that always impedes the auditory."_

_Jason then defiantly spit in his face in an effort to make the grin disappear from the man's face. Only to find his head slammed into the hard floor._

_The Joker stood and pulled out a cloth from his coat. "Now that was rude, the first Boy Blunder had some manners," he said cleaning the bloodied spit from his face. Jason managed to turn his face and give a defiant smile._

_"I suppose I'm going to have to teach you a lesson so you can better follow in his footsteps...nah I'm just going to keep beating you with this crowbar" Joker smirked and pulled the weapon back, bringing it back down onto Jason._

_After hours of the beating continuing, Jason knew he was going to die. He wasn't paying attention enough to the Joker to hear what he said as he slammed the door shut and left Jason alone in the warehouse._

_The teen managed to drag his self to the door, leaving a long trail of blood behind himself. When he tried the knob, he found the door to be locked. He fell against it, his eyes moving to something in the corner of the room..._

_A bomb counting down from ten..._

_And that's when he knew, he was going to die. He rested against the door and felt himself relax, knowing there was nothing he could really do. Bruce wasn't going to show up just in time. Because he was already to late..._

_The last thing he heard was a loud popping in his ears..._

"Sir? Sir?" Jason felt a slight shaking as he jolted from sleep. He looked over seeing a flight attendant staring at him with an apologetic look on her face. "We'll be landing in a few minutes, Mr. Todd. We're asking all passengers to refasten their seat belts."

Jason nodded groggily, still reeling from the nightmare and sleep. He fastened the belt and sighed, relaxing in the seat. It was nothing new...the nightmare. He had it a lot.

Slowly he turned his head and looked out the window seeing the runway beneath them. He had arrived in Bosnia...

* * *

I don't know why I'm so mean to Tim. Oh, and Jason's nightmare is from the movie _**Batman: Under The Red Hood **_in case anyone was wondering. I'll post another chapter soon! :)


	9. Chapter 9

AN: It doesn't usually take me so long to update. But, you know, school is starting up again soon and everything, so I've been getting ready for that. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Young Justice nor its characters.

CHAPTER 9

Dick stood in the cave as he began to suit up. He had just finished analyzing the body of the dead ninja and found that she was in fact a member of the League of Shadows. And he was about to go and find his brother and bring him home once and for all. Which is probably why he was shaking with anxiety and almost relief now that he had a real lead to where his brother was. And the thought of him being home was overwhelming.

He latched his belt around his waist and finished putting the last of his equipment inside. He heard the clock slide open, but assumed it was just Barbara or Alfred. Since Barbara was supposed to meet him here and they would leave.

Instead, when he looked up he saw the red headed Roy Harper. He walked down the stairs and was soon standing in front of Dick with an expression that gave off waves of shock and sadness.

Dick stopped packing immediately and asked, "What? What happened?"

Roy blinked a few times before fishing in his pocket, pulling out a flash drive. He sighed, "Jade got me this. She has a few connections within the Shadows and this...one of her spies managed to record this off of a hidden camera in their amour. I watched it with her this morning, and I think you should see it."

Roy didn't wait for Dick to respond before he turned and walked over to the large computer. He stuck the flash drive in and waited for it to download and Dick walked over and stood next to him. He asked, "What is it? Is it something that's going to ruin my day?" He tried to put humor in his voice, but worry was clearly over powering it.

Roy shook his head and clicked the file when it appeared on the screen. Immediately it started to play and Dick watched with his eyes squinted, trying to understand what he was seeing.

He immediately recognized one of the people on the screen. Tim. His heart tightened seeing his younger brother and actually hearing his voice for the first time in weeks, even if it was only on video. The sense of relief that his brother was alive in this video was indescribable. Until, he started to understand exactly what was happening.

Tim was begging. He held a sword and wore a black robe that looked much like Ra's' green one. His eyes were to his left and even though Dick couldn't see the man, he could hear Ra's' voice ordering Tim to do something. Ordering him to kill the man.

Dick's hands immediately were in fists as he stared at the video. He had, very few times, felt this much anger towards one person. And not Tim, God no not Tim. The poor teen looked afraid out of his mind and it was _killing _Dick to know he couldn't jump through the screen and rescue him. Just like he couldn't rescue Jason. It was that helpless feeling he always felt when watching someone die. Like his parents when they fell to the ground that night. Or when he heard that Jason had been killed. It was that feeling that was tearing him apart from the inside out.

And he had sworn so many times that he would never let a loved one get hurt again. And even though Tim wasn't being physically harmed, he could see the tears in his brother's eyes. It was killing him to watch the teen plead and try to bargain his way out of something that was going to happen.

But, even when Tim swung the sword, Dick couldn't stop his eyes from widening and his jaw dropping. The boy seemed just as shocked as he dropped the sword and it crashed to the ground. Then...the video cut off...

The cave was silent besides the sounds of the bats screeching. Dick blinked as he stared at the blank screen and Roy pulled the flash drive out. The red head placed a hand on his friend's shoulder and said, "We're going to get him back. I just thought you had the right to see that."

Dick shook his head and ran a hand through his hair, moving away from the computer and back over to his supplies. He continued to pack and he growled, "I'm going to tear Ra's apart so much, it'll take Talia years to put him back together."

Roy's eyes widened. He had never heard such a threat come from Dick. Even after Jason was killed, Dick had said things about the Joker...but never anything like that. Because Dick sounded like he was going to _kill._

Roy spoke, "Dick...you can't kill him. Bruce-"

Dick cut him off by shouting, "I'm not Bruce! If Tim is permanently affected by this, I swear I will tear Ra's apart. Even if it kills me!"

Roy blinked in surprise. He had never seen Dick so unleveled headed. The red head whispered, "Dick, you're not thinking straight. You need to calm down."

Dick finished packing and set the bag on his shoulder. He growled, "I don't _need_ to calm down, I _need _to find my brother. When Barbara shows up you're welcome to come with us. But, if you try to stop anything I do..." He trailed off looking at the floor. He glared at it and turned walking towards the batwing.

Roy stood there in shock a few moments, before jogging after him.

* * *

Tim sat in the dark room. The silence was a calm and happy change from his sobbing that had recently been filling the dark. It was only dark because he had cut off all of the lights after Talia had returned him to his room about seven hours ago. Or, as Tim had mentally counted, seven hours, thirteen minutes, and sixteen seconds ago.

He was in the far corner, as far away from the door as possible. He pressed his back into the wall so hard that it was bruising him. But, he didn't care. It distracted him from the guilt and crying. Because...God he hated crying so much.

It made him feel weak and vulnerable when he did it. Which is why he hardly did. Especially not in front of people. Considering he hadn't even cried at his parent's funeral. That said a few things. No...he had waited until he was in a dark room and alone to do that. Which is probably one of the reasons everyone says he's just like Bruce. And truthfully...that _scares _the hell out of him.

He pulled his knees tighter to his chest and bit his lip. He couldn't bite his tongue anymore because earlier when he bit it, it had left a nasty mark.

He jumped when the door suddenly opened and light from the hall stretched across the room. The person at the door sighed and flipped the light switch, causing Tim to close his eyes quickly.

"What are you doing on the floor, Timothy?" Talia's voice asked walking in, her boots echoing across the stone floor.

Tim opened his eyes, but didn't look at her. He heard her set something down on the bedside table and then walk over to him. She kneeled down and asked, "What is wrong?"

"What do you care?" Tim snapped.

She sighed, "I am not a completely heartless person, Timothy. I was only asking."

Tim's eyes narrowed and he hissed, "You want to know what's wrong? Your devil of a father just made me kill someone to save my friend's life. I feel like I'm in hell and I want to go home. Is that enough?"

Talia stared at him before shrugging, "it was necessary. A part of your training. Soon you will understand. Your dinner is on the nightstand. Father didn't think you would want to eat in the dining hall tonight."

"Then he would be correct," Tim growled.

The woman sighed deeply and stood back to her full height. She spoke, "Fine. Be angry, it was expected. I suggest you eat your dinner and sleep. You'll need your rest."

She then turned on her heels and left the room, shutting the door behind her. Tim stood, his knees shaking a bit, and walked over to the food tray. He stood over it staring at the dinner before lashing out. He grabbed the tray of food and threw it across the room, the glass china and cup of water shattering on the wall. The metal tray clattered to the floor. Tim grabbed both sides of his head, sinking to his knees.

He took in a shaky breath and let out a sob as he pulled his hair. Tears streamed his face and he whispered, "I'm so sorry."

* * *

Next update will be soon! Please review!


	10. Chapter 10

AN: So here is the big one zero chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Young Justice or its characters!

CHAPTER 10

Jason Todd was not afraid of heights. Especially, since he had been jumping from building to building at a very young age. Using grappling guns and sometimes nothing at all. Just a free fall and hoping something sturdy would catch you at the bottom. But…hell, he had never imagined that climbing the side of this mountain would give him so many mini heart attacks.

So, he had climbed the thing those few months of training with Talia. But, truth was, it had been summer then and the climbing hadn't been so dangerous. The ice hadn't been as slick and there hadn't been any snow storms to worry about. But, no, the kid couldn't have gone missing in the summer. He had to go missing when it was just the ending of winter.

Once again his shoe slipped on a rock, sending a surge of energy up his spin. He caught himself and growled curses under his breath. It was pissing him off to say the least and every fiber of his being wanted to turn around and just go back home. And a few times he almost did. But, he always ended up continuing, even though he had no idea why.

Why was he even doing this? He hated the kid and didn't really care what happened to him. But, truth be told, he hated Ra's and Talia a lot more than this kid and he had nothing better to do. At least…that's what he kept telling himself. He didn't know his true reasons for trying to rescue the kid.

Jason grunted as he pulled himself up onto a larger rock, stretching a moment, allowing his stressed muscles to relax a second. His eyes moved back up the mountain where the palace stood in the haze of the snow. The small torches that surrounded it glowed through the darkness.

He sighed, shaking his head and continuing the climb. He hadn't exactly planned completely what he was going to do once he got Tim. But, he never was the best at planning things. His death was sign of that.

It only took about fifteen more minutes for him to make it to the top of the mountain where Ra's' palace stood. The entrance had four guards and no telling how many ninjas were lurking about. Jason's eyes shifted to one area in particular.

A large trash shoot sat at the far side. It was quite strange and out of place, but he supposed even Ra's and Talia had things that needed to be thrown away. Jason pressed his back into the side of the wall, hiding within the shadows as he moved towards where the trash was being emptied.

The down side to this…the trash shoot was over a burner. Jason inwardly groaned as he approached the small gate that was surrounding it. He climbed over it with ease and landed on the ground with a small thump. He approached it, and felt the heat radiating off of it. He looked down the hole, seeing the fire below, stinging his face.

He lifted his head looking up at the trash shoot. He heard a deep rumbling coming from inside of it, until the black down swung open, emptying a large load of trash into the fire. It hissed as it hit the heat and began to melt away and burn into ash.

Jason took two steps back, before running towards it and jumping up. He grabbed the door, his fingers slipping slightly. He growled, "crap, crap, crap."

He felt the door beginning to close, and quickly pulled himself on top of it, just as it snapped shut.

Jason sighed in relief, his clothing cooling from being over the fire. He stood quickly, not wanting to risk another pile of trash being dropped and throwing him into the fire. He began to make his way up the shoot with his grappling gun. Within seconds he was at the top and peeking through the flap that led into the kitchen.

His eyes scanned the room, not seeing anyone. Jason's eyes settled on a vent that was low on the wall. It was behind one of the food carts. With one more scan of the room, he climbed out of the trash shoot and ran over to it, ripping it off the wall as quietly as possible and closing it behind himself.

Once inside…he realized he had no idea where he was going. He mentally scolded, "freaking idiot. What were you planning to do? Crawl through the ventilation systems until you just happened to find the kid?"

He moved through the vents, until finally stopping. He shook his head and whispered, "This is hopeless."

He looked down through one of the vents that were below his, hearing someone walking down the hall that he was over. He smirked, pulling a knife from his belt and slowly opening the vent. He thought silently, "How about we ask for directions?"

Jason managed to get a glimpse of who was walking by and found it to be a maid. As soon as she was over the vent, he jumped down behind her, pressing the blade to her throat.

She gasped, but didn't struggle. Jason whispered in her ear, "Where is the boy being held?"

"What boy?" The woman asked in a thick accent. Fear covered her face and Jason could feel her pulse speeding up.

He growled, "The boy…the heir."

The woman gulped and whispered, "I-I think he is in the East Wing. I've cleaned his room a couple of times."

Without another word, Jason slammed the handle of the knife into the back of her head, knocking her out. He dragged her to a nearby closet and threw her in it, locking the door. Quickly he returned to his vent and closed it, continuing towards the East Wing.

Soon, he found himself at the East Wing, searching the room below the vents for the boy. There were about five rooms on in the East Wing, and he finally found what he was looking for in the third room he stopped over.

His eyes settled on a small form that was curled up on a bed. The bedside lamp was on and he could barely make out the teen's slumbering figure. From what Jason could see, Tim was not injured, which was good considering they had to trek down the mountain.

Jason stuck his fingers into the grate of the vent and moved it aside, jumping down onto the floor below, landing in a crouched position. He already knew no one else was in the room and he stood to full height, approaching the bed.

He placed a hand over Tim's mouth and used his other hand to shake the teenager awake. Tim's eyes snapped open wide and quickly he grabbed Jason's wrist, trying to move it away. He kicked his foot up, which Jason dodged with ease since Tim was not fully awake.

Jason hissed, "Kid, stop, stop, it's me."

Tim stopped moving immediately and stared at Jason a few seconds, as if trying to register who was in over him. His eyes widened in realization, and he shoved Jason's hand away, sitting up quickly in the bed. He asked, fully awake, "how did you find me?"

Jason smirked, "I'm just that good, kid. Now, come on before Ra's or Talia shows up."

Jason couldn't describe the look of sorrow that washed over Tim's face. It reminded him of when Tim had found out that his role model hated him the night he beat the teen up. Tim looked at the bed sheets and shook his head whispering, "I can't, Jason. I can't go home."

"Why?" Jason asked a bit impatiently.

Tim bit down on his lip and replied, "Jason…they made me hurt someone. I can't face Dick and Bruce knowing I did that. Plus, Ra's knows where La'gann is. If I leave they'll kill him."

Jason heard Tim's voice cracking. A sound he had never heard from the teen. In the dim light, he could see what looked like sparkles in the corners of Tim's eyes. After a moment of thinking, he realized they were tears.

The older ignored a tinge of pity in his chest and grabbed Tim's upper arm, dragging him from the bed. Tim yanked his arm away and growled, "Look, thank you for coming and finding me. But, I can't leave. La'gann's life is at stake and I can't go home anyway."

"Whatever you did can't be that bad, kid," Jason said rolling his eyes.

Tim's eyes narrowed, "it is bad…I'm not going, Jason. I'm sorry."

Jason shrugged, "yeah kid…I'm sorry too."

Tim raised an eyebrow, "for what?"

"This," Jason said and quickly grabbed the back of Tim's head and slamming it down onto the bedside table. He caught the teen before he collapsed on the ground. He slipped the unconscious boy over his shoulder and began to make his escape out of the palace.

* * *

Cassie, Jaime, and Garfield sat on the in the main room of Mount. Justice. Cassie clicked the toes of her shoes together loudly while chewing a pink piece of bubble gum. All three sat in an awkward silence, the only sound being Cassie's smacking.

Jaime stared at her with narrowed eyes and would glance at Garfield every now and then. Both knew each other was thinking the same thing. Jaime's eyes shifted back to Cassie who was rocking back and forth as if some song was in her head.

Finally Jaime snapped, "Enough, Cassie! Please!"

Cassie jumped in surprised at the sudden break in silence. She looked up at the two boy's whose eyes were almost twitching with annoyance. She smirked and asked, "What? This?"

She opened her mouth and closed it quickly making a loud smacking sound that echoed throughout the room. Jaime's eyes were visibly twitching until he snapped to no one, "Shut up! I'm not going to do that!"

"Uhhh, Jaime, you're talking to yourself…again," Garfield whispered.

Jaime sighed, flopping back onto the training floor. He spread his arms out like a snow angel and said, "I'm so bored."

"So are we, Blue," Cassie mumbled lying down also, along with Garfield.

"I can't believe we couldn't go on the search for La'gann," Garfield pouted sticking out his lower lip.

"Or help Nightwing, Batgirl, and Red Arrow find Robin," Jaime mumbled.

"It sucks being rookies," Cassie grumbled.

Both boys replied with annoyed, "yeahs."

Suddenly, all three sat up at the same time when a large screen popped up in the middle of the room. Cassie's face lit up and she exclaimed, "It's Wonder Woman!"

"What? How do you know that?" Jaime asked as she bolted across the room to answer it.

Cassie shrugged, "it's her communicator ID. Duh."

The other two stood walking over just as Cassie answered it, but instead of Wonder Woman, they saw the cowl of the Dark Knight. Batman.

"Batman? What are you doing with Wonder Woman's communicator? Is she ok!?" Cassie asked slightly panicked.

Batman shook his head and replied, "She's fine, I need to talk to Nightwing."

Cassie blinked looking back at the boys behind her. All three knew they weren't supposed to tell anyone Robin had gone missing. Especially not to Batman. She looked back at the screen and gave a small smile, "uh…he's not here right now."

Batman's eyes narrowed under the cowl and he almost growled, "Where is he then?"

Cassie opened her mouth, but no words came out. Jaime came up behind her and said, "He must be at the cave, sir."

"I already tried the cave, Blue Beetle. He isn't there, Agent A confirmed that he said he was leaving for the mountain with Batgirl and Red Arrow," Batman replied.

At that moment Garfield shape shifted into a mouse and scurried off.

Batman glared at the two remaining teens and asked, "One of you tell me, or I will have you suspended from the team."

Neither said a word until suddenly Wonder Woman's face popped up in the corner of the screen and she said, "Cassie, if you know something I suggest you tell us. Your mother would not like to hear about you defying your mentors."

Cassie bit her lip and looked at Jaime who shook his head. Her eyes then moved back to the adults and suddenly she began to ramble, "A few weeks ago Robin was kidnapped on a mission. Nightwing split us up into two groups, one is supposed to search for La'gann, the other for Robin. Nightwing gave us strict orders not to tell you guys or the league about it. He left a few hours ago with Batgirl and Red Arrow to find him since they got a solid lead on where he was."

She breathed heavily out of breath from talking so fast. Jaime's head fell in his hands and he groaned loudly, trying to suppress the curses. Batman glared coldly until he said, "ETA nine hours." Suddenly the screen turned black.

Jaime looked over at Wonder Girl and hissed, "Well way to go."

* * *

And there you have it, chapter 10. I'll be back to post eleven soon enough! :)


	11. Chapter 11

AN: And here we go! Chapter eleven! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Young Justice or its characters!

CHAPTER 11

Dick had landed the Bat-Wing not far from Ra's' palace in some attempt to make it an easy trek. If Tim was hurt it would difficult for him to travel that far. Or if he was unconscious it would make it hard for the other heroes to get him back to the Bat-Wing in one piece.

As the three heroes approached the palace, Roy couldn't help the dread that was rising in him. He couldn't let Dick just kill Ra's, but he didn't know if he could stop him either if Dick was set on doing so. Maybe Barbara would help him if things got to out of control. She probably would and that made him feel a bit better.

They were coming up on the palace when Barbara asked, "So, what are you even planning to do, Nightwing? Just storm the place? I mean, that could give Ra's plenty of time to hide Tim."

Dick shook his head and pulled up a hologram on his glove. He pressed a few of the blue buttons and a model of the palace popped up. Roy raised an eyebrow and asked, "Where'd you get that?"

"Batman made it the last time he came here. It's helped him a lot in the past to find his way around the place," Dick explained. He pointed to one area and a red circle appeared around it. He said, "This is most likely where Ra's would be. I read in his file that he spends a lot of time in his study."

"Why would that be in his file?" Roy mumbled confused.

Dick shrugged, "Don't ask me, Batman wrote it. And everyone knows Batman writes down _everything _he knows about the person. Even their blood type."

Dick turned off the hologram and they continued towards the palace. They walked around to the West side of the palace where the balcony of his study was built. Two lanterns stood outside of the double doors that led inside of his study. Nightwing signaled for the other two to watch his back as he shot his grappling gun. It attached to the balcony silently and he rode it up. He climbed over the wooden banister and landed in a crouched position on the edge.

Silently he turned and motioned for them to come up. Then, he turned back and approached the door, hardly hearing the other two land safely behind himself. The curtains were barely drawn back and he peeked through, seeing Ra's at his desk.

He turned and looked at the other two and made a hand gesture.

Both nodded and he turned opening the door quickly and all three came in. Roy, with his bow at the ready, Barbara in her fighting stance, and Dick gripping both of his escrima sticks tightly.

Dick at least expected to see a little surprise in Ra's' eyes, but when the demon looked up, there was nothing but a smirk on his face. Dick glared behind his mask and growled, "Where is he, Ra's?"

Ra's' face suddenly became quite flustered and he leaned back in his chair. He spoke, "Very good question, Richard. But, I actually thought _you _knew where Timothy was. At least you had the courage to face me instead of whomever it was that liberated him."

"Liberated?" Roy asked looking at the other two.

Ra's nodded, "Yes, I would believe he wouldn't leave on his own considering he was quite sure he had nowhere to go after the execution. Plus, the fish boy's life was being threatened. I doubt he left willingly, so I thought maybe you had managed to retrieve him. Clearly that's a no."

Dick slowly lowered his weapons and asked, "How do we know you're not just trying to get us to leave?"

"Oh please, Richard. If I had the boy I would fight for my heir with honor. Not try to make up tales about him leaving. You're welcome to search the palace all you want. You won't find him here," Ra's said standing from his chair.

Dick's eyes narrowed and he asked, "Why wouldn't Tim want to escape on his own?"

Ra's smirked, "Oh, something about you and The Detective never forgiving him for executing a criminal. From the look on your face I assume you already know about such an event. He was quite…distraught over it."

Dick growled, "Why did you even want him? What did you have to gain from kidnapping him?"

Ra's raised an eyebrow, "I would think that would be the easy part of the mystery, Richard. Your surrogate father refused to become my heir, why not the next best thing?"

"He's just a kid," Roy cut in suddenly.

Ra's smirked, "All the more reason it should be him. He's young and impressionable. Easier to sway. I gave him a choice between his friend and a criminal and like any child he chose his friend. Yet, he is much wiser than just any child. And he knows when it is time to behave. Because, unlike Richard, he has an inner drive to do what is necessary for a mission. And, unlike Jason, he can behave himself and think things through. He is the perfect heir, and I intend to get him back."

As soon as he finished talking, Dick lunged at him. Both Barbara and Roy shouted for him to stop, but it was too late. He had already begun to battle with the Demon's Head. Dick slammed his escrima sticks down towards Ra's' neck, only for the older man to move aside swiftly. Dick knew he didn't stand a chance, but his anger was getting the better of him.

He felt as if he was on an adrenaline high as he tried to strike the man again. But, it soon dissipated and Ra's grabbed his stick, throwing him onto the floor with ease. Dick breathed heavily and looked up at Ra's with defiance in his eyes. The man only sighed and smoothed the wrinkles from his robe.

"Please, Richard, I will not battle with you. You are far from being within my league. I have the shadows searching for my heir at this very moment. Soon they will find him and you will _never _see him again. I suggest you leave and start searching if you even want the slightest chance."

Barbara asked, "Why would you even give us a chance? Why not kill us?"

Ra's shrugged, "I am a fair man, Miss Gordon. I would only kill you if I thought of you as a threat. But, I believe my heir will come back willingly. He believes he has nowhere to go and that his friend's life is at stake. Wouldn't you return if you thought as such?"

And without another word, he left the three in a stunned silence. Dick pushed himself to his feet and spoke first, walking towards the balcony window. He turned slightly and said to the other two, "Come on, we have to find Tim before Ra's does."

Both red heads followed and Barbara said, "But…you heard what Ra's said. Someone _took _Tim. He didn't leave on his own."

"Then we find who took Tim…simple as that," Dick concluded.

Suddenly his communicator beeped and he pulled it from his belt while all three jumped from the balcony. He answered it as they walked towards the Bat-Wing.

"Yeah?" Nightwing spoke into the communicator, already knowing it was the mountain.

He heard Jaime's voice on the other end say_, "Uh…Nightwing, he kind of have a problem."_

Dick inwardly groaned and looked at the other two people that stood by him. He asked, "What kind of problem?"

"_Um…Well you see, Batman called the mountain looking for you and-" _He was cut off when Garfield's voice broke into the conversation screaming, _"Cassie told him about Robin!"_

"_Shut up!" _Cassie's voice yelled in the background.

"_Uh…yeah what he s__aid. Batman's ETA is nine hours…that was about four hours ago, ese," _Jaime's voice returned.

Dick closed his eyes tightly trying not to get angry with the teens. He ran a hand through his hair and spoke with strain, "Ok, we should be back in about five hours. If he shows up at the mountain, tell him to go to the cave."

"_Are you mad?" _Cassie's voice asked.

Nightwing shook his head stiffly, "No Cassie…I'm not mad."

With that he hung up, throwing the communicator onto the ground, shattering it. Dick then began to continue his way towards the Bat-Wing.

Roy and Barbara glanced at each other nervously before following…

* * *

Tim's eyes opened slowly. He had to blink a few times for his vision to come into focus…

_One…_

_Two…_

_Three…_

_Four…_

_Five…_

Five blinks later the blurry image of rocks came into focus. Wherever he was, it was dim and he could barely see, besides a glow that was coming from the right of him. He lifted his hand and placed it on his forehead, closing his eyes tightly, only for them to snap open again when someone asked, "You're finally awake?"

His head snapped to the right where the dim light was coming from. There was a small fire and sitting in front of it was Jason Todd. Suddenly, the memories of the night before flooded back in one heap. Jason showing up at Ra's' palace. Him…slamming his head onto the nightstand…

Without even having to look around completely, Tim knew he was in a cave. He could hear the winds howling at the mouth of the cave that he estimated was about twelve feet away. The rock wall behind Jason and the rock ceiling were also good indicators of a cave. And Tim knew the mountain had hundreds of little caves after hiking with Ra's and Talia.

The teen's heart rate sped up and a million things ran threw his mind_, "How long have I been gone from the palace? Has Ra's killed La'gann? Has Ra's even realized I'm gone? Maybe I can get back before he even realizes it and Ra's won't hurt him…"_

Without another thought Tim threw the jacket that was being used as a blanket away from his body. He jumped up and started to run towards the mouth of the cave, ignoring the sick feeling in his stomach and the dizzy feeling in his head.

He heard Jason swear under his breath and the former Robin instantly jumped up from where he was sitting and sprinted after the teen. Tim didn't even make it out of the cave before he was tackled by Jason.

Tim managed to hit Jason in the jaw once, and almost escaped the older's grip, but Jason pinned him down quickly. Jason wiped some blood from his lip and shouted, "Dammit kid! Stop!"

"Let go of me!" Tim yelled struggling to get out of the other's grip. "I have to go back! They'll kill La'gann! Bruce and Dick won't want me to be Robin anymore anyway! There's no point in going back, I have nowhere to go… I have no one…"

Tim didn't know when he had started to cry. He didn't cry very often. Never really. This was out of character for him, but he truthfully felt so lost and there was nothing for him anymore. Nothing and no one…

Jason currently had both knees pressing down on the creases of Tim's elbows, keeping him pinned down. When the kid had begun to cry he sighed deeply and moved off of the boy, sitting a few inches away. He wiped the excess blood from his lip and watched as Tim quickly turned over onto his stomach, burying his face into the hard ground, trying to hide the tears. But, Jason didn't need to see them. For one he had already seen them and two sobs were wracking the teen's body.

Jason just stared at him. He had no idea what to do with this. People didn't _cry _in front of Jason. Or most people didn't. People didn't complain to Jason. Because, the people who knew what happened to Jason could just look at him and feel better about themselves. Things weren't that bad right? They weren't Jason Todd, so their life must not suck _that _much. Hardly anyone would beat Jason in a sob story competition.

The older awkwardly placed a hand on the back of Tim's head and whispered, "Listen kid…I'm new at this comforting thing so, cut me some slack if I screw it up. But, it really can't be so horrible that Dick and Bruce won't take you back."

"I killed someone, Jason! They'll never take me back after that!" Tim screamed, picking his head up, showing two bloodshot eyes that surrounded two pools of blue.

Jason's eyes narrowed and he said, "I've killed kid. A lot more than you have."

"But…you didn't want to go home. You were angry with Bruce, so either way it didn't matter to you. I _want _to go home so much, but I can't…I can't go back after what I did. And La'gann-"

Jason cut him off by saying, "Your fish friend is going to be fine. I doubt they'll kill him, because Ra's still wants you and the only way he can control you is if he has that fish kid. They won't kill him. Trust me, I know how these things work."

Tim tried to swallow back the lump in his throat and whispered, "I don't know what to do, Jason…I can't go back…I can't go home. I don't know what to do."

Jason had never heard such desperation in the boy's voice before. The older jumped slightly when Tim grabbed his arm and pleaded, "Jason, please help me, I don't know what to do."

Tim blinked hard, his face stained with tear tracks and his cheeks were flushed from crying. His eyes were a puffy red and Jason could describe him as some kind of lost puppy. Tim was crying again and closing his eyes tightly, now sitting on his knees. Jason shook his head and did the only thing that came natural. He hugged the kid close to his chest.

He was surprised when Tim didn't refuse the hug, but actually returned it. Jason tried to remember what it was like the couple of times Dick had hugged him. The street kid had hated the hugs his older brother would give him, but sometimes they were actually quite comforting when he was having a bad day. He tried to hug Tim like that, even if he wasn't as good at it.

"It's ok kid…just calm down," Jason tried to sound comforting, but he just wasn't. He wasn't the big brother Dick was. That's who Tim needed right now, not some social outcast of the bat-family.

Tim was quiet again, besides small hiccups and the younger mumbled, "I don't know what to do anymore…"

Jason sighed deeply and replied, "It's ok, kid…I'll figure it out, I swear."

* * *

I'll have chapter twelve out soon! I hope this chapter wasn't too sappy…

Anyway, please review!


	12. Chapter 12

AN: Make sure you read the note at the end! It's not bad, I swear! So here is chapter 12! Enjoy!

CHAPTER 12

Dick landed the Bat-Wing on the helipad that sat inside of the cave. He took his time shutting down the engines because he _knew _what was awaiting him, Barbara and Roy. Even though Roy had practically begged to be dropped off at his apartment on the way back home.

Roy spoke nervously from the backseat, "Dick…I have a kid and everything, so maybe I should just sneak out the back-"

"Stop being such a baby," Barbara hissed, but truthfully she was just as nervous as Roy.

Dick took a deep breath and looked to his right, seeing a dark figure standing by the computer monitor. He ran a hand through his hair and looked back at the other two in the backseat. He sighed, "Ready?"

"When is someone ever ready to die?" Roy mumbled as Dick opened the Bat-Wing and the three climbed out.

Their footsteps echoed across the cave as they approached the Dark Knight. He didn't move, or speak to the three of them. Just glared beneath his cowl in a way Dick had only seen twice. The first was when he had put the Joker in a body cast, right after Jason was killed. The second was when Jason had beaten Tim. Dick had never had the glare aimed directly at him, and that…that was scary.

He kept a calm posture and the three stopped in front of the man who seemed to tower over them. It was silent a few moments, besides the bats screeching above them. Dick knew it would stay quiet. Bruce wasn't going to scream or yell. Because Bruce _doesn't _do that. He glares and gets disappointed in you. He doesn't yell at you like a normal surrogate father.

Yet…the glares and disappointment hurt so much more than words or a slap to the face.

The silence was broke when Batman growled, "What the _hell _were you thinking?"

Dick's eyes narrowed behind his mask and he replied, "Excuse me? What the hell were _you_ thinking!? Coming back before the damn trial! That thing is important; you might have just destroyed the Earth!"

"I told you to contact me if anything happened," Bruce stated in a dangerous tone.

"I was fixing it!" Dick yelled throwing his hands up in exasperation.

Bruce crossed his arms, "You're not doing a very good job." He looked at Barbara and asked, "How long has he been missing?"

The red head bit her lip and answered, "About a month."

Bruce's eyes turned sharply back to Dick and he said, "It's been taking you a month to fix this, and yet you still haven't found him. In all of the irresponsible things you've ever done, this tops all of them."

Dick gripped his hands into fists and he hissed, "I was trying to find Tim and make sure you went on trial to protect the freaking world. What did you want me to do? Contact you then the aliens attack us because you didn't fulfill your obligation to go on trial? Tim is _alive _Bruce. He's not like Jason. He thinks about things."

"Then where is he?" Bruce growled.

Dick crossed his arms and sighed deeply, "Ra's kidnapped him because he wanted an heir and he thought Tim would be the next best thing since you refused the offer. But, when Babs, Roy and I showed up at his palace, we were informed that he was liberated by someone. Tim wouldn't have left on his own."

"Why wouldn't he?" Bruce asked.

Dick ran a hand through his hand and answered, "For one, Ra's was threatening to kill La'gann if he defied him. And two…Tim doesn't think he can come home because…." Dick's eyes drifted to the floor and he took a deep breath. "Because, Ra's forced him to kill someone."

There was a moment of silence before Bruce shook his head and whispered, "I would never hold him accountable for that."

"Well, he doesn't think that," Dick mumbled. "But, I don't have a clue who got him out of there. If we don't find Timmy…he may never come home on his own."

Barbara and Roy glanced at each other and sighed. Another long night…

* * *

Roy pushed the door to his apartment open and sighed deeply. It was about six in the morning and he had been with the Batfamily all night. And that can tire pretty much anyone. Even Superman. He didn't bother being quiet because he knew Jade had taken Lian on a mission with her. Even though Roy had protested, you can't win in a fight with Jade…

He dropped his bow and quiver and sighed deeply, shutting the door behind himself. Suddenly, he stopped dead in his tracks realizing someone was in the apartment. Two someones to be exact.

It didn't surprise him so much to see Jason sitting in the recliner drinking a beer. Even if it was this early in the morning, Jason had never been the kind the kind to wait until five in the afternoon. From what Roy could see was that Jason looked completely exhausted, yet he wasn't sleeping, just staring at the T.V. that was barely loud enough to hear.

What really shocked Roy was the figure that was on the couch. A blanket was draped over the person and that was clearly sleeping deeply. His eyes widened when they settled on the face of the figure.

Tim Drake.

Roy's feet moved quickly so that he was standing in front of Jason. The other looked up at the red head and smirked. Roy snapped, "What the hell, Jason?!"

Jason's eyes narrowed and he growled, "Look Harper, that kid has been through hell and back, so if you wake him up, I'll be forced to shove one of your arrows up your ass."

Roy's jaw was on the floor as he ran a hand through his hair, stepping away from Jason. He hissed, "Jason, Dick has been going crazy looking for him. Why didn't you bring him back to the cave?"

Jason stood and said, "He doesn't want to go back to the cave."

"Bruce isn't mad at him, if that's what he thinks," Roy whispered.

Jason nodded, "I tried to tell him that, but he won't listen to me. So, I just brought him back here. And you're _not _going to say anything about this to the old man or Dickie-Bird, got it? "

Roy looked at Tim, who was still asleep, under the thick blanket. His face softened and he replied, "Jason…I can't keep this from Dick. He'll kill me if he finds out."

"Then don't let him find out, simple as that. Neither of them know that we share an apartment, hell they don't even know where you live since you went rogue those few months ago while looking for the other Speedy. They don't have to know unless the kid wants them to," Jason said simply.

Roy sighed and sat on the recliner where Jason had been a few moments before. Jason sat on the edge of the coffee table and watched as Roy put his head in his hands. He sighed, "Jason…how do you expect to hide him here?"

"I'll figure it out, all you have to do is make sure Dick and Bruce don't come here," Jason said taking a swig of his beer.

Roy bit his lip, once again allowing his eyes to move to the teenager that was asleep. He must have been exhausted if he had managed to sleep through their whole conversation. The red head took a deep breath and closed his eyes trying to process all of this. On one hand, if he told Dick, Jason would most likely hunt him for the rest of his life, and then if Roy didn't tell Dick, his friend might go nuts looking for his little brother. It made him feel guilty and completely torn.

Finally he opened his eyes and nodded, "Fine…but, if Dick finds out that you have him, you can't tell him where you've been hiding."

Jason smirked and reached out a hand, "It's a deal Harper."

Roy hesitantly took the hand and shook it.

But, somewhere in the back of his mind…he knew he was going to regret this.

* * *

Ra's Al Ghul stood in his study, staring out the large glass door that led to the balcony. His hands were folded nicely in front of him as he waited patiently for the news of his heir from the shadows.

He heard the large double doors behind him open and the familiar sound of his daughter's boots hitting the floor echoed throughout the room. Soon, they stopped a few feet behind the demon and Ra's could literally feel the anxiety radiating off of her.

"We could not locate him, Father. I am sorry," Talia spoke quietly and almost sounded frightened of what her father's response would be.

Ra's nodded, "I guessed that I suppose. The security footage showed the person who liberated him was Jason Todd."

Talia made a choking sound and she croaked, "What? Why would Jason…"

She trailed off when Ra's spoke, "Because he is a part of the bat clan, and no matter what…they always come back. They always return to their family. Even if he didn't return the boy to the Detective and Richard, he still felt the obligation to free the boy. Because, the boy is his family."

Talia cleared her throat, "Should we pursue them back to Gotham then, Father?"

"No, the Detective and Richard do not know where the boy is, and I intend to keep it that way. I do not see Richard as a threat, but when working with the Detective, they have defeated me. I will not risk losing my heir a second time. We'll wait until the precise moment to take the boy back," Ra's stated simply.

Talia bowed, even though the man was turned around. "As you wish, Father."

With that she turned and left the room, closing the doors behind herself. A smirk played across Ra's' lips and he said, "You'll be back home soon, my heir. Very soon."

_**TO BE CONTINUED…**_

IMPORTANT: DON'T FREAK OUT THE STORY ISN'T FINISHED YET! I am currently in progress of writing the sequel to this story (And I have to say the idea for it is pretty awesome!) But, the whole reason behind it being two parts is the way I have it planned out in my head requires me to do so. So, try not to be too angry with me, I'll have the sequel up in a few weeks, (Hey maybe even a week if you're lucky.) And the reason I didn't warn you about this being the last chapter was because I wasn't sure if this would be the last chapter. But, it is and I'm working on the sequel. I swear. :) So try not to be mad at me and I hope you enjoyed the first part! Please review!


	13. Notice!

Hello! So I posted the sequel, so check it out on my profile! The title is, "One Step Forward, Two Steps Back." Hope you like it! Enjoy!


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